There are some spaces available in these sessions. If you have previously registered, feel free to access our PayPal on-line account and sign up for one or more at any time prior to 2/10.

The speakers and their session topics are as follows:

• Erin Murphy & Ammi-Joan Pacquette: The EMLA Agency and YOU!
• Kirsten Cappy: Shameless Self Promotion
• Patti Ann Harris: An Art Director’s Search for Excellence
• Jill Corcoran: Crafting a Stellar Query & Synopsis    
• Anastasia Suen: Perfecting the Picture Book  
• Tricia (PJ) Hoover: Design a Dynamic Book Trailer  
• Barry Furrow: Contract Negotiations   
• Bonnie Bader: Leveled Readers & Chapter Books  
• Erik Kuntz: Creating a Stellar Web Persona   

Small group session or not, we’re looking forward to seeing you there!!!      

The Conference Auction Committee consisting of ARA Carmen Oliver, Merdith Davis, and Shelli Cornelison – The Dynamic Trio – have been hard at work gathering the most amazing items for our Conference Silent Auction. Below is a list of just a few of the cool things they’ve scoured up for us and they promise there are more items to come!

Actually, this list serves as a testimony for the wonderful way our creative community bands together by sharing talent, treasure, and support for one another. Are we blessed? The answer to that question is a resounding YES!

You must be present to win, so if you haven’t registered for the conference do it now!!!

• Audio Book Basket donated by Jeanette Larson.
• Critique Basket stuffed with goodies including a critique by one of the Texas Sweethearts & Scoundrels.
• Basket donated by Lindsey Lane, Liz Garton Scanlon, Anne Bustard, Bethany Hegedus.
• Basket donated by Don Tate, Donna Bowman Bratton, Shelley Ann Jackson, Carmen Oliver and Marsha Riti.
• Basket donated by Jerri Romine and Meredith Davis.
• Basket donated by Brian Yansky’s critique group.
• Writer Toolkit Basket donated by Austin SCBWI.
• $100 gift certificate from BookPeople.
• Male and Female Kenneth Cole watches donated by Debbie and John Gonzales.
• Retreat donated by the Wyndham Garden Hotel in Austin which includes two-night stay at the hotel, 2 continental breakfasts and a bottle of wine to help you celebrate.
• Picture book manuscript critique by author/illustrators Shelley Ann Jackson and Jeff Crosby.
• Picture book manuscript critique by author/illustrator Don Tate.
• Two vintage necklaces from Nanci Stevenson.

And more to come!!!!!

Donations need to be dropped off by Friday, February 17^th at 5pm at St. Edward’s University, where the conference is being held. If you don’t think you’ll make that deadline, feel free to contact a Girllustrator or Assistant Regional Advisor Carmen Oliver to set something up.

Illustrators

This year we are thrilled to announce the Girllustrators are coordinating all facets of the Portfolio Showcase. At Registration, look for representatives of this enthusiastic band of accomplished illustrators  for they will steer you straight toward success. A Girllustrators member will be there for you when you drop off your portfolio on Friday evening or Saturday morning in the Mabee Ballroom B, found on the 3rd floor of Ragsdale Hall. There your portfolio with be proudly labeled with a very special placecard mounted on a stand.

Our Esteemed Guests will be  judging the portfolios throughout the conference. After combining their scores, the illustrator judged as Best of Show wins a free registration to the 2013 Austin Regional Conference! (Should you desire that your portfolio not be judged simply let the assisting Girllustrator know and they will make note of this on your portfolio placecard.)

Portfolios will be judged based on criteria such as (all aspects have been clarfied on the Girllustrator website):

• Composition
• Color
• Character development/sequencing
• Continuity of style(s)
• Pictoral readability or narrative clarity
• Professional presentation

The Girllustrators have been generous with helpful hints, all of which have been provided on thier website. If you have any question at all regarding the Portfolio Showcase, feel free to contact either our Illustrator Chair Mark Mitchell or The Girllustrators via their website.

Great news this morning for Texas SCBWI member Guadalupe Garcia McCall: the American Library Association has awarded her the 2012 Pura Belpré Author Award for her debut novel Under the Mesquite, which was also a finalist for the William C. Morris YA Debut Award. Please share this awesome news with your region’s members.

Also, McCall is scheduled to speak to our chapter on March 17, 2012. Topic: Literacy and Our Roles As Writers and Illustrators for Young People. She’ll speak during the 10:00 – 11:00 am hour at Barnes & Noble (321 NW Loop 410, San Antonio, TX 78216), and will discuss El día de los niños / El día de los libros, which culminates on April 30. McCall’s talk is free and open to the public.

Click here to view a slideshow featuring the Unofficial Gallery of Artwork being considered this year.

Good luck, all! May the best illustrator win, though how in the world could someone choose? Every illustration is incredible!

Whether you love love, hate it or fear it, be there for spooky cool refreshments and scary bookish fun!

Local author Donna Bowman Bratton shared the following review excerpts: “It’s a considerable challenge for a series not to lose steam by the fourth book, but this one runs full force on the fires of hell and the sword power of heaven.” and “This installment is a model for incorporating just enough details from previous books to bring readers up to speed, but those already invested in the characters will be the most satisfied.”

Fantastico! Wonderful words, so well deserved! Cyn, we’re all so very happy for you.

This chronicle of a pivotal chapter of the civil rights movement weaves together the stories of four black children in Birmingham, Ala., who were among some 4,000 who boycotted school to participate in a march to protest segregation. Before recounting that event, during which almost 2,500 young people were arrested and jailed, first-time author Levinson opens with intimate profiles of the four spotlighted children (drawn from interviews she conducted with each of them), along with descriptions of Birmingham’s racist laws, corrupt politicians, antiblack sentiment—and activists’ efforts to fight all of the above. Readers also get an up-close view of such leaders as Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, who founded the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights; Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who advocated a nonviolent response; and James Bevel, a preacher who rallied the city’s children and teens. Yet the most compelling component is Levinson’s dramatic re-creation of the courageous children’s crusade and the change it helped bring about in the face of widespread prejudice and brutality. Powerful period photos and topical sidebars heighten the story’s impact. Ages 10–up. Agent: Erin Murphy, Erin Murphy Literary Agency. (Feb.)

Those words set nicely next to her latest starred review in Kirkus.

Hurray for Cynthia! What a great way to start the new year!!!!

Just a shout out about SCBWI Bologna this coming March and the SCBWI Showcase. All details including FAQs at the website www.SCBWIBologna.org. If you are attending then please register for the showcase at the SCBWI booth where you can display books from your PAL members. Regional Advisors may also delegate another member, who you trust to be there, to represent you. Individual PAL author and illustrator members can also apply for a time slot to showcase their work. 

For PAL illustrator members of SCBWI across the world, who can’t make it to Bologna, they can still be visible at the international Bologna Book Fair, We will be showing a select number of illustrator’s promotional pieces in our special Illustration Portfolio Display at the SCBWI stand at the Bologna Book fair and also online in our SCBWI Bologna Illustrators’ Gallery.  Deadline for email submissions:  February 14, 2012.  Full details on how to apply are on http://www.scbwibologna.org/display-portfolio.php. We will contact those who are selected with details about snail mailing a quality print-out of the piece. 

If you are coming to the fair, then how about promoting your work at our SCBWI stand?  Duelling illustrator sessions, on-the-spot illustrations to a read-aloud story, and other live art demonstrations have been particular popular events at our past SCBWI stand. To apply for a Showcase slot check out http://www.scbwibologna.org/showcase.php. Why not book a slot, or share a space alone or with another PAL member, then send out announcements ahead of time, and invite your publishers there to come and watch? 

There are no children at the fair, but publishers, agents and foreign rights people may well enjoy a break from their busy schedule to be reminded that it all starts with a good idea and a pencil, pen, brush and paint or even your laptop! And if you aren’t yet published but are going to be in Bologna for the fair, how about booking ahead for 5 minutes of feedback on your portfolio from a publishing pro at the SCBWI Stand?